Linux security threats have been in the news lately but Mark Shuttleworth, of Ubuntu Linux fame, said we should be scared of proprietary systems like Windows and Mac. I'm not sure where the Chrome OS security patches story fits in, proprietary or open - oh, that's right, somewhere in-between, but ZDNet is reporting on that. The Register is running a story on Red Hat's unified security management system for upcoming Fedora 21. Jamie Watson has run more Linux tests on his latest laptop and another Indian state government is switching to Open Source.

SDN company Midokura this week said it will support for Cumulus Networks' Linux network operating system in its network virtualization software.

The combination will enable customers to manage workloads on virtual and non-virtualized infrastructure using Midokura's MidoNet product. MidoNet is a distributed network virtualization system that is designed to allow service providers and enterprises to build flexible and easier-to-manage virtual networks.

Linux is very secure. Google's Linux-based Chrome OS, with its auto-updating and security sandboxing, is even more secure. But, neither is perfect. At Google's own Pwnium hacking contest and HP Zero Day Initiative's (ZDI) annual Pwn2Own hacking contest, three new sets of security problems were found in Chrome OS... and then immediately patched.

With the Microsoft Corporation deciding to stop technical assistance for Windows XP operating system next month, the Tamil Nadu government has advised all its departments to install free open source software BOSS Linux.

“Consider installing BOSS [Bharat Operating System Solutions] Linux as one of the mandatory operating system,” said an order issued by Information Technology Department. Listing various aspects in support of the software developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the order said BOSS Linux, by virtue of being open source software, can be modified to specific needs.

"This is a subject very near and dear to me," Linux Rants blogger Mike Stone told Linux Girl over a fresh Tequila Tux down at the blogosphere's Punchy Penguin Saloon.

Though Stone spent several years teaching "how to" computer courses for faculty and staff at a local university back in the 90s, "all those years barely prepared me for my greatest challenge: my own mother," he said.

To wit: After buying his parents a Windows 95 computer way back when, "I sat her down and showed her how to use the basic hardware," he explained. Yet "even after hours a day over the course of weeks, the computer was too much for her. Windows just had too many options, and she kept getting herself into places she couldn't get out of.

"I literally spent years looking for environments that would make her comfortable," Stone went on. "She went through the Windows OSes (95, 98, ME and finally XP) and some Linuxes -- Red Hat first and then a couple variations of Ubuntu. She always found ways to get herself into trouble."

Spanish mobile start-up Geeksphone is reportedly in discussions with Canonical to offer Ubuntu Touch in its new phone, the ‘Revolution’. Featuring a 4.7-inch IPS display, the dual-OS running smartphone was released last month.

The dual-core Intel-based smartphone currently packs two operating systems – Android Jelly Bean and an unbranded version of Mozilla Firefox OS.

A few moments ago, renowned Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman had the pleasure of announcing the general availability of the Linux kernel 4.8.13 and Linux kernel 4.4.37 LTS maintenance updates.
While many rolling GNU/Linux distributions have just received the Linux 4.8.12 kernel, it looks like Linux kernel 4.8.13 is now available with more improvements and bug fixes, but it's not a major milestone. According to the appended shortlog and the diff since last week's Linux 4.8.12 kernel release, a total of 46 files were changed, with 214 insertions and 95 deletions.

openSUSE's Douglas DeMaio reports on the latest Open Source and GNU/Linux technologies that landed in the repositories of the openSUSE Tumbleweed rolling operating system.

What Is A VPN Connection? Why To Use VPN?

We all have heard about VPN sometime. Most of us normal users of internet use it. To bypass the region based restrictions of services like Netflix or Youtube ( Yes, youtube has geo- restrictions too). In fact, VPN is actually mostly used for this purpose only. ​

The Libreboot C201 from Minifree is really really really ridiculously open source

Open source laptops – ones not running any commercial software whatsoever – have been the holy grail for free software fans for years. Now, with the introduction of libreboot, a truly open source boot firmware, the dream is close to fruition.
The $730 laptop is a bog standard piece of hardware but it contains only open source software. The OS, Debian, is completely open source and to avoid closed software the company has added an Atheros Wi-Fi dongle with open source drivers rather than use the built-in Wi-Fi chip.